Calendar

Chemeketa Board of Education votes for no tuition or fee increases

Chemeketa Board of Education votes for no tuition or fee increases

Tuition is expected to remain the same for the third consecutive year

Jenn Gale (right), the executive coordinator of associated Students of Chemeketa, speaks in favor of not increasing tuition for the next school year. Dianne Watson, a Chemeketa Board of Education member, listens.

Courier News Service

Photos by Brad Bakke

The Chemeketa Board of Education voted Feb. 19 to keep tuition and fees the same for the 2014-15 school year.

Board chairman Ed Dodson said, “As a board, we take very seriously the burden past tuition increases have placed upon our students, and I am grateful that the college’s sound fiscal management has put us in a position to stabilize the cost of a Chemeketa education next year.”

The board’s decision means that tuition for Oregon residents attending Chemeketa is expected to remain at $80 per credit. The $14-per-credit universal fee also is expected to stay the same.

Tuition for out-of-state residents is expected to remain at $242 per credit.

The recommendation to keep tuition and fees level is based on the state Legislature’s appropriation of an additional $15 million for community colleges during the 2013 special session, on top of the $450 million that was allocated during the 2013 regular session.

If the extra $15 million is not appropriated or the Legislature chooses to decrease its allocation during their current session, tuition will be revisited.

Based on the current year’s rates, Chemeketa would have the third-lowest tuition rate among Oregon’s 17 community colleges.

Last year, Chemeketa was the only Oregon community college to rescind a tuition increase for this academic year after the Legislature approved a funding allocation above Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proposed budget.

The Board of Education actually rolled back tuition $2. That meant the college could maintain the same tuition rate that it’s charged since the 2012-13 school year.

Ron Pittman (left), a Chemeketa Board of Education member, speaks in favor of not increasing tuition for the 2014-15 school year. Also pictured are board members Ken Hector and Joe Van meter.